VR warehouses

The VR warehouses ("VR:n makasiinit" in Finnish) were a group of red brick warehouses in the centre of Helsinki, Finland. They were located at Mannerheimintie 13 near the Parliament building, the Helsinki Central railway station and the Kiasma Museum of Contemporary Art.

The oldest parts of the warehouses were designed by Bruno Granholm and built in 1898–1899, when they served as the cargo terminal for the Helsinki Central railway station. The warehouses were extended in 1908 and 1917, and the most recent additions are from the 1950s. They were used by the state-owned VR Group as cargo warehouses until the 1980s when they were abandoned and gradually fell into disrepair. The warehouses were without a permanent specific purpose but could be rented by anyone wishing to organize some sort of public event.

Various music concerts, including the Tuska heavy metal festival during 1999 and 2000, were often held at the warehouses, and in 2004 and 2005 they hosted Perv Park, Helsinki's biggest BDSM convention. They included also couple of ecological shops and band rehearsal studios.

The warehouses had been under a threat of demolition to make way for a new Helsinki Music Centre for almost a decade. In early 2006, a decision was finally made to construct the Music Hall on the site, and the demolition began on May 6.

Fire

On Friday May 5 2006, the older southern warehouse was badly damaged by a blazing fire. The building was totally gutted, the fire leaving just the brick walls standing. It was widely believed at first that the fire was a case of arson, but police concluded in July that it had been an accidental fire that smouldered for several hours before suddenly breaking out across a large part of the building cite web | url=http://www.hs.fi/english/article/Police+mistakenly+tear+down+protected+part+of+railway+warehouse/1135221002538 | title=Police mistakenly tear down protected part of railway warehouse | publisher=Helsingin Sanomat] .

This event had been preceded by the EuroMayDay riots just a few days earlier. Some people decided to set up a bonfire between the warehouses in the night of May 1. The fire almost got to the warehouses, and when the fire department tried to put it out, they were attacked by a group of people. Riot police were dispatched to protect the firemen, and they also had stones thrown at them.

A small section at the end of the southern warehouse damaged by fire was planned to be preserved and used as an extension to the Music Hall. This was contrary to many Helsinkians' wishes to preserve the warehouses due to their perceived historical and communal value. However, in August 2006, the Finnish police mistakenly ordered the demolition of the protected section.

References

External links

* [http://www.hs.fi/english/article/Riot+police+battle+crowds+throwing+stones+and+lighting+fires+on+May+Day+Eve/1135219726405 Helsingin Sanomat International Edition: Riot police battle crowds throwing stones and lighting fires on May Day Eve]
* [http://newsroom.finland.fi/stt/showarticle.asp?intNWSAID=12543&group=General NewsRoom Finland: Finnish Railways warehouses in central Helsinki ravaged by fire]